Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Royster Company in Chesapeake, Virginia
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Site Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Land Reuse
- Site Responsibility
On November 28, 2006, a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action site visit was conducted and a meeting was held at the former Royster facility site by representatives of the EPA, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ), the EPA’s contracted consultant, and Kinder Morgan. The Final RCRA Corrective Action Site Visit Report, dated March 2007, is the primary basis for the determination whether the facility is in need of a Corrective Action investigation to assess potential releases of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents from the facility’s Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) or Areas of Concern.
Cleanup Status
A Final RCRA Site Visit Report was completed for this property in March 2007. Based on the information contained in that report as well as data collected as part of a wetlands remediation project, EPA made a determination of Corrective Action Complete with Controls for this property. EPA issued a Public Notice regarding their determination on July 16, 2008. The comment period for this determination of Corrective Action Complete with Controls ended on September 2, 2008 without comments. Therefore the Corrective Action Complete with Controls determination was made final.
Site Description
Interactive Map of the Royster Company, Chesapeake, VA
The Facility is located on Pratt Street in Chesapeake, Virginia. The site is located in a heavily industrialized area along the Elizabeth River (the Elizabeth River borders the site to the north and west). The 35-acre former Royster site is currently maintained by Kinder Morgan as part of an area wide nature conservancy along the Elizabeth River, under oversight and guidance of the Elizabeth River Project, a non-profit organization. The site is divided into three parts by three drainage swales, the largest is in the middle and is 16 acres in size. This area is also believed to be where all the Royster operations were located. The former Royster buildings have been demolished and the building debris has been disposed offsite. The site has been regraded and reseeded/replanted with vegetative species typical of the lower coastal plan soils and coastal area wetlands. Several marsh and wetlands development projects are planned for the Elizabeth River in the vicinity of the site, including a wetlands restoration project at the former Royster property.
This plant (also referred to as the Royster Company Money Point Plant) manufactured commercial fertilizer from approximately the mid-1930s until 1973. From 1978 through 1986, waste piles and mixing operations took place with metal constituents such as zinc, chromium, lead, and cadmium. According to the 1986 Facility Management Plan, the only regulated hazardous waste managed by the Royster facility was emission control dust/sludge from the primary production of steel in electric furnaces (K061). The waste was mixed with non-hazardous zinc rich filter cake sludge. According to a letter from Royster to USEPA Region III dated March 18, 1986, the mixture was then transferred to Royster's South Norfolk facility and used as feed stock for the production of commercial fertilizer.
In December 1985, Elizabeth River Terminals (ERT) purchased the site from Royster. Kinder Morgan purchased ERT in 2001, and is the current owner of the former Royster site. According to Kinder Morgan, the site buildings were demolished between 1989 and 1993. As of May 1986, Royster no longer received or handled hazardous waste.
Contaminants at this Facility
The only regulated hazardous waste managed by the Royster facility was emission control dust/sludge from the primary production of steel in electric furnaces.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
| Restrictions or Controls that Address: | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
|
Groundwater Use
|
|
X
|
|
Residential Use
|
X
|
|
|
Excavation
|
|
X
|
|
Vapor Intrusion
|
|
X
|
|
Capped Area(s)
|
|
X
|
|
Other Engineering Controls
|
|
X
|
|
Other Restrictions
|
X
|
|
- The future use of the entire property site will be restricted to industrial use and/or wetlands revitalization. The facility will be required to file a notice with the Recorder of Deeds in the City of Chesapeake to prohibit residential use of the property as the institutional control measure to meet the Corrective Action is Complete with Controls Determination.
- If residential use for this property is proposed in the future, the site soils would have to be rescreened and reevaluated to demonstrate acceptable levels of constituents of concern for unrestricted residential uses.
Land Reuse Information at this Facility
The site is being reused.
Site Responsibility at this Facility
RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of the EPA Region 3 with assistance from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.